Would having this girl sit on the back row be racist or logical?
I don’t know why, but I woke up thinking about this.
I was in Jr. High in the early 70’s. A black girl sat in front of me in health class. She had a big, giant afro. I could not see the board, the teacher or the sex movies. All I could see was Charlotte’s hair. I spent an hour every day looking at her hair. I want to stick pencils and stuff in it.
If the teacher assigned her to the back row, would it have been racist?
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27 Answers
You know the answer to this question.
Ask yourself the question but change “black girl” to “very tall guy”.
Why wouldn’t you move instead? Then again, when Charlotte noticed no one sat behind her in any direction she might assume it was because she was black… Then someone would have to just tell her she’s got BIG hair!
The teacher should have asked if everyone can see from where they sit. She could have reassigned several seats. Some people have bad eyes, too, and end up in the wrong seats. No biggie. Putting a black kid on the back row could have definitely been seen as racist, and perception is reality. Bad move.
It’s not racist if the reason is because her hair was obstructing the view of other students. She might’ve felt that it was racist, but it wasn’t intended to be. If I were the teacher, I would’ve just rearranged the seating plan and put her on one of the far ends in the front row. Like, against a wall, so the students behind her don’t have to look forward to see the board, if that makes any sense. That way, it’s not banishing her to the back, but it helps the students whose views are obstructed. And I’d probably change everyone’s seat, just to avoid her feelings being hurt.
Big hair blocking the teachers view of me?! Can you say nap time!
@herculies Ha, sounds like something my husband would say. He’d sit behind her on purpose.
@livelaughlove21 Good thinking! Well, we had assigned seating. I didn’t complain. For some odd reason I just woke up thinking about it.
@hominid Or white girl with a great big 60’s bouffant hair do.
@hominid – Or me, a curly red-headed white guy with a ‘fro, in the mid 70’s.
@rojo WOW what a great way to dress a great word, now it’s stuck in my head! This is why I never get invited to parties.
Well, you’re at a racist bouffant party now, @herculies so what you talking about? :D
@Dutchess_III I have no idea… I know I got the sardine award. So there!
It was health class. Sex ed included, but it was pretty damn wimpy sex ed. We also learned about drugs. The first time I ever heard “I get high with a little help from my friends…” was in health class. I remember thinking that it was a cool song!
Did absolutely nothing to turn me off of drugs, either! It made them sound cool. BAD teacher!
I would say if the reason was that her hair obstructed the view, then it would be as if anyone else was obstructing the view, too tall guy, non-Black girl with big hair, etc. If it is simply that she would have to go back there and not a too tall Hispanic guy, then it would be racist.
But all the cool kids sit in the back of the class. XD
The fact that you brought race into the situation says a lot about you. People complain about minorities using the “race card” (which is stupid anyway), yet this time, it was you.
I’d take a look at my prejudices if I were you.
Your post didn’t make any sense. I have no idea what point you were trying to make.
I take it you didn’t know what point you were trying to make either. Or maybe you don’t have the communication skills to explain it to me.
@Dutchess_III I’ll take a stab at what @SwanSwanHummingbird is saying here. You’ve probably heard this scenario before:
Guy: What’s wrong?
Girl: (SIGH…) Nothing. (fumes)
Guy: What did I do?
Depending on who you are, what you take away from that exchange could be completely different. A lot of guys might think, “Haha, yeah. Women, am I right?” But women might see it from the opposite angle. Like, maybe he forgot your birthday, or hit on your teenage sister, or joked about rape. To you, it might be blindingly obvious that these things are wrong. But the thought that any of these are wrong never even crosses his mind. He thinks he’s being funny or clever. For him to understand why you’re upset, he’d have to adjust his entire worldview.
Most people are not willing to adjust their entire worldview. Chances are, if you speak up, he’ll just get defensive or say you’re being “bitchy” or ask if you’re PMSing. To the girl in this scenario, trying to explain why she’s upset would be like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up the hill for the millionth time. It would be difficult and futile, a losing proposition.
That’s basically what just happened in that exchange:
“Your post didn’t make any sense. I had no idea what point you were trying to make.”
(Insert heavy sigh) “Exactly.”
There has literally been an entire civil rights movement about stuff like this. (facepalm)
Hm. Well, that got real deep, real quick.
I’m reminded of that question JLeslie (I think) posted a while back, something like, “Is it to the point where if you even mention a person’s race you’ll be accused of racism?” Looks like the answer is “Yes.”
Now, we’re off today to go buy a camper from an old white guy who lives about an hour and a half away so I won’t be around much today.
Oh man. Old white guy already sold it. :(
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